McKinney claims delegate lead for GP nomination – vows to grow party

Contact:
John Judge 202-584-1021
press-secretary@runcynthiarun.org
Cynthia McKinney Takes Lead with Clear Majority of Delegates
As Green Party Heads to Chicago Presidential Nominating Convention

[Washington, DC] Recently released preliminary results show that Cynthia McKinney has taken a clear lead in the delegate count for the upcoming Presidential Nominating Convention of the Green Party of the United States, scheduled for Chicago, from July 10th – 13th. With the addition of the recent Florida and New York mail balloting results, McKinney now has an outright majority of 267 of the 550 allocated delegates. With these results, former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney now commands her first clear majority of convention delegates in the ongoing contested four-way race for a Green Party presidential nomination.

McKinney is widely acknowledged, both inside and outside the campaign, as a leading contender for the Green Party’s presidential nomination. Campaign organizers point out that nearly two-thirds of delegates have been named and instructed so far. There are 840 total possible delegates, including 34 uncommitted delegates, and some states for which allocation is incomplete. McKinney’s lead puts her ahead of all other announced and write-in candidates, including early returns for Ralph Nader, who has announced he will run independent of the Green Party.

However, her campaign is not taking anything for granted. Campaign supporters have taken the initiative to carry her message to the public in spite of inequitable access to the public airwaves and debates, which are being used to promote some candidates to the exclusion of others. “Ms. McKinney may be heading into the convention with an impressive lead,” said one campaign staffer, “but this contest is not yet over, and we’re urging our supporters to engage with this campaign and help us use this opportunity to bring to the forefront issues no other candidate in this race is prepared to raise as effectively as Cynthia does.”

Cynthia McKinney has an impressive public record serving two terms in the Georgia Assembly and six terms in the U.S. Congress. She is the only genuinely anti-war candidate currently running for President, and a recognized and beloved spokesperson and leader for the disfranchised millions of women, African-Americans and other people of color who too often have been denied their right to vote or to have their votes fairly counted. McKinney has been traveling the United States as well as abroad and speaking to tens of thousands of people who feel they are not represented by the existing political parties or leaders in office. Her campaign has built a broad coalition, greatly expanding on the Green Party’s traditional base.

Congresswoman McKinney broke with the Democratic Party after a newly elected majority in the House of Representatives failed to end the war on Iraq or address the critical social, economic and environmental crises faced by the nation. Even now her former party’s presidential candidates refuse to make concrete promises to end ongoing carnage in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor to address the Bush-Pelosi saber-rattling against Iran. These are issues that the Green Party has made a focus in their recent campaigns.

McKinney’s campaign and candidacy have not gotten the press coverage enjoyed by other emerging party candidates, such as former Congressman Bob Barr, who this past weekend won the Libertarian Party nomination. Nor has she enjoyed the media attention focused on the independent Nader campaign. Even so, her campaign is attracting broad grassroots support from citizens who have taken matters into their own hands to spread her message, on YouTube and elsewhere. As one example, see:

Campaign organizers point out that the Green Party is expected to be on nearly all state ballots by November. With over 200 elected officials currently serving at the local level, the Green Party is the most successful emerging American political party in nearly a century. The media, supporters note, particularly those using the public airwaves, have a responsibility to fully inform the American electorate of all their choices in the upcoming election.

McKinney emphasizes her long-term strategy of ‘adding a chair to the table’ for the disfranchised by winning a 5% electoral count, qualifying her Party for public campaign funds in future elections. “Despite the limits and problems relating to national elections, it will take only 5% of the Presidential vote in November to add a seat to the table of decision-making. This will open the door on the long-closed two-party system to some essential public scrutiny and input, and position the Green Party for the 2012 race,” noted Cynthia McKinney. “Reclaiming our nation from the corporate war makers will be a long and arduous process. But it is work we cannot afford to postpone. The Green Party has been tilling this soil for nearly twenty years now. And the stakes for people across this country and around the world are simply too high for us to shrink from the challenge in this election cycle.”

For more on Cynthia McKinney’s campaign, and the
issues being raised, please see her campaign site at: